Lessonobjectives Cognitive: Students will learn that hard work is rewarded. Affective: Students will feel that it was fair when the cat received a reward for helping and that the other animals didn’t. Behavioral:Students will describe jobs done and the rewards received. Class Session 1 Tell the students that the class will be reading this story together, so have them turn to the appropriate page.
Introduce the story by telling students that this tale will remind them of “The Little Red Hen” and that it has the same moral: “Hard Work Is Rewarded.” Go on to say that even though the stories are very similar, their origins are different. This story is from Africa, and “The Little Red Hen” is from Europe.
Explain that there are many examples of similar stories coming from different places in the world. Ask the students if they can think of some possible explanations for this. Listen to their ideas.
Affirm that it is because people are basically the same no matter where they come from, and they all want to learn and teach the same lessons about living happily ever after.
Begin to read the story by calling on students to read a few lines at a time.
After reading the story, tell the students that the class will compare this story with the one they just read. Make a chart and label one side, “What is the same?” Label the other, “What is different?”
WHAT IS THE SAME? ~ WHAT IS DIFFERENT?
Then ask the students to contribute their ideas for the chart. One thing they may notice is that the story from Africa has a wart hog in it. Draw their attention to the picture of the wart hog. Ask them to describe to you what they see. Ask them why they think the African story has a wart hog in it, and the other one doesn’t. Listen to their answers, then conclude by saying, “Wart hogs may not be well-known to the audience in the first story, but they are probably familiar to African children.
That is one way we know where this story came from. Would the moral of the story be different if it was a farm pig?” Affirm that it would not.
Ask them what they think is the biggest difference between the two stories. Then conclude by emphasizing that in the African story, the cat finally decides to help the man, and then the cat gets a just reward. Go on to explain that in the first story, none of the animals gets a reward because none of them help. Say, “Even though the stories end differently, the message is still the same in both, isn’t it? What is the lesson of both stories? Hard work is rewarded. Let’s say that together!”
Lead the students in a chorus of “Hard work is rewarded!”
Ask them if they would prefer to be left outside like the lazy animals or let inside to cuddle up by a cozy, warm fire, like the hard-working cat. For fun, allow students to imitate a cat curled up by the fire, licking its fur and going to sleep, purring happily.
Class Session 2 Ask the students to read the story on their own and to answer the Questions at the end. Define the following vocabulary before they begin: various, cud, graze, cozy, and snug (point out that “cozy” and “snug” are similar in meaning). Give them ten to twenty minutes to finish reading and to write down their answers. Questions
1. How is this story like the story of the Little Red Hen?
2. Did the cat get a nice reward for her hard work?
3. Do you think the man should have let the other animals in too? Why or why not?
4. Do you think if you work hard at something you should get some part of it to share or some kind of reward?
5. Have you ever worked hard and gotten a reward? (A good grade is a reward for studying hard!)
When they are finished, go over the Questions with them and have them raise their hands to share their answers with the class.
Direct students’ attention to the Exercise. Ask students to keep a record about the work they do during the next week and the rewards they received. Remind them and point out that the chart shows that rewards can be a good word from their parents, praise, or sometimes just a proud and good feeling inside. Exercise This week, keep a little notebook or notes to yourself about the hard work you do. Ask students if anyone can remember any hard work they did today, yesterday, or last week that they got a reward for. If there are many responses, you might want to write them on the board, making a chart similar to the one in the Exercise, depicting the work and the reward.
Tell students that they have worked hard to read and understand this story, so their reward is that they can get out of their seats, move around, and chat with one another freely for five minutes.
Cognitive: Students will learn that hard work is rewarded.
Affective: Students will feel that it was fair when the cat received a reward for helping and that the other animals didn’t.
Behavioral: Students will describe jobs done and the rewards received.
Class Session 1
Tell the students that the class will be reading this story together, so have them turn to the appropriate page.
Introduce the story by telling students that this tale will remind them of “The Little Red Hen” and that it has the same moral: “Hard Work Is Rewarded.” Go on to say that even though the stories are very similar, their origins are different. This story is from Africa, and “The Little Red Hen” is from Europe.
Explain that there are many examples of similar stories coming from different places in the world. Ask the students if they can think of some possible explanations for this. Listen to their ideas.
Affirm that it is because people are basically the same no matter where they come from, and they all want to learn and teach the same lessons about living happily ever after.
Begin to read the story by calling on students to read a few lines at a time.
After reading the story, tell the students that the class will compare this story with the one they just read. Make a chart and label one side, “What is the same?” Label the other, “What is different?”
WHAT IS THE SAME? ~ WHAT IS DIFFERENT?
Then ask the students to contribute their ideas for the chart. One thing they may notice is that the story from Africa has a wart hog in it. Draw their attention to the picture of the wart hog. Ask them to describe to you what they see. Ask them why they think the African story has a wart hog in it, and the other one doesn’t. Listen to their answers, then conclude by saying, “Wart hogs may not be well-known to the audience in the first story, but they are probably familiar to African children.
That is one way we know where this story came from. Would the moral of the story be different if it was a farm pig?” Affirm that it would not.
Ask them what they think is the biggest difference between the two stories. Then conclude by emphasizing that in the African story, the cat finally decides to help the man, and then the cat gets a just reward. Go on to explain that in the first story, none of the animals gets a reward because none of them help. Say, “Even though the stories end differently, the message is still the same in both, isn’t it? What is the lesson of both stories? Hard work is rewarded. Let’s say that together!”
Lead the students in a chorus of “Hard work is rewarded!”
Ask them if they would prefer to be left outside like the lazy animals or let inside to cuddle up by a cozy, warm fire, like the hard-working cat. For fun, allow students to imitate a cat curled up by the fire, licking its fur and going to sleep, purring happily.
Class Session 2
Ask the students to read the story on their own and to answer the Questions at the end. Define the following vocabulary before they begin: various, cud, graze, cozy, and snug (point out that “cozy” and “snug” are similar in meaning). Give them ten to twenty minutes to finish reading and to write down their answers.
Questions
1. How is this story like the story of the Little Red Hen?
2. Did the cat get a nice reward for her hard work?
3. Do you think the man should have let the other animals in too? Why or why not?
4. Do you think if you work hard at something you should get some part of it to share or some kind of reward?
5. Have you ever worked hard and gotten a reward? (A good grade is a reward for studying hard!)
When they are finished, go over the Questions with them and have them raise their hands to share their answers with the class.
Direct students’ attention to the Exercise. Ask students to keep a record about the work they do during the next week and the rewards they received. Remind them and point out that the chart shows that rewards can be a good word from their parents, praise, or sometimes just a proud and good feeling inside.
Exercise
This week, keep a little notebook or notes to yourself about the hard work you do. Ask students if anyone can remember any hard work they did today, yesterday, or last week that they got a reward for. If there are many responses, you might want to write them on the board, making a chart similar to the one in the Exercise, depicting the work and the reward.
Tell students that they have worked hard to read and understand this story, so their reward is that they can get out of their seats, move around, and chat with one another freely for five minutes.